


Drama

by AutisticWriter



Series: Asexual Awareness Week 2017 [2]
Category: Total Drama
Genre: Acephobia, Asexual Awareness Week, Asexuality Spectrum, Bullying, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Chef Hatchet, Grey-A, Grey-Asexual Chris McLean, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Acephobia, Kissing, M/M, One Shot, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 03:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12547552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Chris has only ever fallen for two people in his entire life. One of those people is Chef.Or the one where Chris is gray-ace and needs help from Chef to discover his identity.





	Drama

Chris McLean has only fallen in love with two people in his whole life. And one of those people was Chef Hatchet.

When he was a teenager, he used to get bullied a lot. Mainly because his family was poor and he wore shabby clothes, but also because he was smaller than the other guys. Basically, the other kids didn’t like him, and it showed.

The bullying got worse around the time everyone started dating and coming out, because it became apparent that Chris was so different to the others. He’d only had one crush by the time he was fifteen (a famous actress) when the other kids where crushing on each other all the time. He felt broken, and took to lying about fancying people to try and fit in with the others. It didn’t work.

When he was a junior in high school, he met Chef for the first time. Chef was a year above him, but towered over him (although, to be fair, Chef towered over everyone). He was openly gay, but no one dared bully him. And Chris just fell head over heels for him.

It felt a bit weird to have a crush on someone whenever it happened (because it was so rare), but that didn’t stop Chris hopelessly crushing on Chef. And, one day, he decided to try to ask him out.

Chris approached Chef one day in the cafeteria. He was sat with some other big guys, and Chris grinned weakly, hoping he wasn’t going to get beaten up.

“Hi,” he said to Chef, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Chef looked up and grunted to acknowledge him. He didn’t say anything.

“Um…” Chris grimaced, horribly embarrassed. “M-My name’s Chris.”

“Get lost, kid,” said one of Chef’s mates.

Chris scowled. “Kid? I’m sixteen!”

The guys snorted, clearly not believing him. Chef was the only one who didn’t laugh.

“Leave him alone,” Chef said. “Why you talking to me, man?”

That floored Chris. He hadn’t expected a reply, let alone for Chef to stand up for him. But he didn’t know what to say. He could hardly tell Chef that he had massive crush on him, could he?

“No… no reason,” he said awkwardly. “Just wanted to say hi. So… hi.”

“Hi, then,” Chef said, and Chris ran away before his friends could say anything else.

Chris expected that to be the end of it, but Chef nudged his arm in the corridor as they left school that afternoon. When he saw it was Chef, he blushed bright red.

“Hey, man,” Chef said. “I think I’ve seen you before.”

Chris smiled weakly. “I’m the scrawny junior you can usually find in the medical room.”

Chef smiled. He actually smiled. “Yeah, that’s it. I saw you in there last week when I went to get my meds from the nurse. You had a bloody nose.”

“Yeah,” he said bitterly. The doctor only took the tape off his nose yesterday.

“Did you get beat up?”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I always get beat up.”

“You know, you seem like a nice kid,” Chef said, and he realised Chef called him that just to wind him up. “I can look out for you, if you want. Then no one’ll beat up you.”

Chris grinned. “Really? Thanks, dude!”

Before he could stop himself, Chris hugged Chef. A couple of guys wolf whistled at them. Chef gave them a glare that made them shut up.

“Sorry,” Chris said, even redder than before.

Chef smiled again. “No problem.”

Their friendship developed over the next few months, and Chris had never felt so safe at school; for the first time, he wasn’t getting bullied. And no one dared pick on him with Chef around. And Chris was just so happy when he was with Chef, loving his company and just so grateful to have a friend.

One day, Chef invited him over to his house after school. Chris was introduced to Mrs Hatchet, who was almost as tall as her son. The Hatchets were obviously a very tall family. She smiled and shook Chris’s hand, and Chris saw her looking at him and Chef.

“Is there something you want to tell me, darling?” she asked Chef.

The two young men realised what she meant at the same time, both jumping. Chris went bright red, and Chef looked agonised.

“No, Mom, nothing like that,” Chef said.

Mrs Hatchet smiled, but Chris thought she didn’t believe him.

In Chef’s bedroom, Chris sat on the end of his large bed.

“You’re so lucky,” he said, looking around the room. “Your parents are so cool about you being gay.”

“Suppose I am,” Chef said. “I’ve never really thought of it like that. Are your parents not…?”

Chris shrugged. “I’m not gay, but I know they’re massive homophobes. I don’t really know what I am, but I know I’m not coming out to them any time soon.”

“You think you might be bi?” Chef asked.

Chris was blushing again. Why was he discussing his sexuality (or lack thereof) with his friend/crush?

“Maybe,” he said. After all, he had fallen for both a girl and a guy. To be honest, he fell for people so rarely that he never gave it much thought. “But… I think I’m queer. I just don’t know it more specifically.”

“Well there’s nothing wrong with that,” Chef said.

Chris smiled weakly. “Thanks.”

Six months after they became friends, Chef shocked Chris by asking him out. And Chris stared at him, part of him wondering if Chef was winding him up. Because they were friends, but that didn’t mean Chef fancied him back. But, apparently, he did.

“Really?” Chris said, his face burning again (thankfully, vibrant blushing was something that stopped happening to him a couple of years later).

Chef smiled. “Yeah, really? Wanna go out with me?”

“Course… course I do, dude,” Chris said, stuttering over his words. He couldn’t help it. He was just so amazed. “I’d love to.”

And Chef didn’t pull away when Chris grasped his hand.

A couple of months later, on their fifth date, they had their first kiss, in the darkness of a movie theatre. In hindsight, they were taking things a lot slower than most couples. But Chris had no dating experience and Chef was never one to rush things, so it worked perfectly for them.

And their first kiss was perfect. Chris had never kissed before, but Chef didn’t mind the clumsiness. And Chris was just so happy as he kissed his boyfriend in the dark room, almost forgetting how different he was to every other teen he knew right them. The key word being ‘almost’.

Because he could never forget the fact that he was nearly seventeen years old and having his first kiss with the second person (of two) he ever had a crush on. Because he just stood out so much. He was just different.

\---

Many years after they started going out, Chris and Chef lie next to each other in bed in their room in the ~~mansion~~ cottage, behind the scenes of _Total Drama Island_. It’s late at night and Chris wants to go to sleep (hosts need their beauty sleep), but Chef won’t stop scrolling through something on his cell phone.

“ _Chef_ ,” Chris moans. “Go to sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will in a minute.”

“What’re you doing, anyway?” Chris asks, shuffling closer.

Chef sighs. “I’m looking something up, if you must know.”

“What?”

“I heard two of the kids talking ‘bout something earlier,” Chef says without looking away from his phone. “And it interested me, so I googled it.”

Chris shuffles closer still, resting his head on Chef’s shoulder. “And what’re you googling?”

Chef sighs in mock exasperation. “You’re so damn nosy, man.”

Chris grins and decides to take that as a compliment. “Thanks. I’m pretty good at it.”

“Shut up, pretty boy,” Chef says, rolling his eyes. “If you shut it for a few seconds, I can tell you what I’m looking at.”

Intrigued, Chris shuts up. He even mimes zipping his mouth shut, and Chef gives him a look.

“Right, then. Have you heard of being asexual?”

Chris nods. He tried the label once, but it didn’t seem to fit him.

“Well, some people feel like they’re part asexual, so they only rarely feel attraction towards others. Like, really rarely. They’re called gray-asexuals.”

Chris looks at him. “And you’re telling me this _why_?”

Chef sighs and pokes him. “Duh! Because it sounds a lot like you. Two crushes in your whole life? Use your brain, pretty boy.”

Ignoring the insult, he stares at Chef.

“So… that’s a thing?” Chris says, slightly stunned.

Chef nods. “Yeah, it’s a thing. Just thought it might interest you.”

And so Chef hands him the phone, and Chris scrolls through the page Chef was reading. And it is fascinating. There are people like him, people who are in their thirties or even older who’ve only been attracted to a couple of people in their whole life. It’s a thing! He isn’t just defective.

He looks at Chef, a huge grin on his face. Chef sees and smiles.

“Did that help?” Chef asks.

Chris nods. “Lots. Thanks, dude.”

He gives Chef a kiss, and Chef smoothes his perfect hair.

“Now can we please do to sleep?” he says, smiling.

Chef sighs, but he puts his phone down and switches the light off. Chris snuggles up to him, happier than he’s been all day. Chef puts his arm around him, and Chris feels so secure in his embrace.

“Thanks again, man,” he says.

“You don’t need to keep saying that,” Chef mumbles. “It’s not a problem. Night, Chris.”

Chris kisses him again, so grateful to have a partner like Chef. “Night.”


End file.
